Derek&Stiles Fest: Humanity
by AngstyDevil
Summary: Derek & Stiles must come to terms with the fact that for them, a relationship will always hold two humans and one very, very hungry wolf. But what part of that equation is truly the problem?
1. Prologue

A/N

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Length: Multi-Chaptered. This is the shortest chapter in the whole thing. (probably won't be finished by the 15th. Fingers crossed. )

Takes place: AU, Year after the events of first few episodes.

Warnings: Slash. Unbetaed. Possible Continuity errors (report them as you see them!)

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Okay, this is the short intro to my story. Will upload another chapter in about an hour or so...Peace. Enjoy, review, etc. Yeah.

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><p>The wind whistled through the trees, singing a song to those creatures of the night that listened and obeyed it's every command. Whirling and dancing through the night it brushed across the still forest chilling everything it touched. It was the presence that thrilled those inhabitants of the forest to no end and forced all those who dwelled outside, those used to the light, to flee in horror and distaste. The cold, icy wind blew silently for a moment, the trees almost seeming to draw in a deep breath of anticipation as all noise stopped. The forest held a collective breath watching; waiting.<p>

Stiles broke through the forest in an all out run. Finally breaking the silence as if the forest itself had turned against him wanting his location revealed. He may not have been the greatest athlete in his school, hell on some days even the fat kids could take him but not tonight. Not when the adrenaline coursed through his veins and every gulp of air that he sucked in burned as he struggled desperately for more. He had to get away from here. He was, he needed, he…He stopped for one moment, just one second to catch his breath that was all he needed but suddenly there was a noise behind him and he bolted through the trees like a frightened animal.

That was undoubtedly what he was. He was nothing but a creature here in this forest; he was nothing but a hunted animal. Stiles knew in his heart of hearts that he was prey. He was smart, Stiles in fact, was bordering on a genius level intellect so it should come as no surprise that he'd seen more than enough animal planet to know that it wasn't often that the prey escaped the hunter. No, that only happened in clichéd stories and fairytales like little red riding hood. Even then those things only happened in the modern day versions not the original tales of horror.

Man, did his mind enjoy wandering. He wondered how it was possible that he thought it wise to allow his last thoughts to be of little red riding hood. That was a little bit creepy and paedophilic for his liking. Stiles was running so hard he could swear he could feel the muscles in his legs begin to strain under the pressure. He knew that any moment his legs would give out under him, he would hear the loudest pop ever and his tendons would snap, everything in him would give out an he wouldn't be able to escape anymore. The things hunting him would win and he would lose once that happened.

Stiles refused to fall prey like that, to be destroyed while he couldn't even move. He knew his face was covered in blood and sweat and tears. He would not go down like this. Once he hit the clearing he knew exactly what he was going to do. Even though his heart was beating so loud that it gave away his location and he couldn't even hear himself think over it Stiles had managed to come up with something resembling a plan. He stopped towards the middle of the clearing, cleaning his face and composing himself as much as possible. The façade was just that, fake as can be but he hoped at least it would be of a condolence to his friends (Scott) and family (dad) that he didn't look like shit as he died…

He could feel it now, the wind wasn't against him anymore. It was if the air itself had decided to commend him for his decision to die gracefully and with as much pride as he had left. Not that he had that much to begin with, what with the way he was constantly falling over and shit. Whatever, he could deal with that when he got to meet the big cheese up in heaven. He felt the air quiet and the presence of his hunter grew closer no, not closer…bigger somehow.

Standing in the clearing he had to consciously fight the scream that wanted to tear through his lungs as he felt two large hands press themselves over his eyes from behind. His body stiffened as adrenaline surged through him. His heart skipped a beat and he was sure he was going to die when the voice whispered seductively, "guess who?"

The man stepped even closer with his words leaving absolutely no space between him and stiles and as he pressed closer to him Stiles let out a low whine that was a cross between panic and fear and his desperate desire to bolt…His heart was pounding loudly in his chest, his body shaking with fear waiting for what happened next. He could feel those arms slipping down pass his eyes to grip him around his waist pulling him even closer than before.

This was it, this was his final moment and in that one moment Stiles could do nothing put scream as the man whispered in his ear a chuckle of amusement in his voice. "Boo."


	2. Chapter 1

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

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><p>Derek Hale splashed cold water on his face for what was probably the tenth time that morning. He could not get that god forsaken dream out of his head. All his life he had been told that he and his were one. Unlike Scott and his wolf Derek had more control over it because it was more than a part of him it was his very birth right. Unfortunately he and his wolf had never been this much at odds about anything. Ever.<p>

Derek snarled at his reflection in the mirror before he did an about turn and exited the room not forgetting to slam the door as he left. Once he was outside (slamming that door as well) he couldn't help but be lost once again in his memories. He found himself running and before he could help himself he was in the middle of a field and he immediately recognize it. This was the place in his dream where his wolf had tried to do…something. Derek did indeed find himself attracted to Stiles, but it was the thirst for the chase that scared him. His wolf, no, he had enjoyed the chase. The adrenaline and panic that rolled off the man was enough that he could still feel it now in his waking state. When he had finally caught the man in his dream his reaction to his voice, the fear that mixed with attraction and something unspoken had sent tingles down Derek's body and he couldn't figure it out.

Did he really have it in him to hurt Stiles? Sure the boy was irksome like hell and he himself had threatened to rip his throat out many times but this dream. Derek Hale had a dark(er) side than even he himself didn't like. Derek sighed he would just have to hope Stiles could handle it better than he could, because even now walking away from that place he could feel his wolf deep inside, prowling around commanding him to claim his mate before someone else did…

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><p>Stiles jumped out of his jeep, flipped off some annoying jock or another that called him something he didn't particularly like and headed straight for his first class. He had finally given in and taken a shit load of advanced classes under his dad's…pestering or parenting as he called. He swore the man was a tyrant with his guilt trips. Rolling his eyes he realized he was the first one in class and he was for once glad that he had this class without Scott.<p>

This was their final year of high school after all. It had been a year roughly since the incident at the high school and since he and Derek had bested the Alpha (okay, Scott had helped too.) Unsurprisingly Derek had disappeared after the alpha skipped town and Scott had initiated his plan to win Allison back, bitch that she was. So you could imagine his surprise when he sat down and turned towards the window to see one Derek Hale standing there just watching him. Impassively. Not blinking, not moving he was just standing there watching.

Stiles being stiles of course jumped a solid foot out of his chair and said chair (and Stiles) clattered to the ground and he sprawled there unceremoniously. When he finally righted himself he was surprised to find that he could swear he saw the smallest hint of a smile present on the wolf's lips. Glaring and sputtering randomly he had yet to realize that of course they couldn't hear each other through the window. Well, maybe Derek could but he certainly couldn't.

Looking exasperated Derek raised one hand lazily to his ear and pointed out his pinky and thumb finger in a hang loose expression. Oh! Phone. Patting himself down quickly he was surprised that his phone did indeed have one new message from one Derek Hale. Stiles frowned at that. He had never taken the man's number so how had it gotten there…Sighing and mumbling about crazy werewolf magic he wasn't surprised to find that when he looked up the man was gone and his classroom was slowly filling up with people who probably only knew him as the crazy talkative kid who dropped things…

He opened up the message reading quickly and frowning even more as it only increased his confusion.

'emergency. Meet me in the lacrosse field before practice. Don't tell scott.'

Well, alright then Mr. Vague. He supposed he should have known something like this couldn't have been a social call, but he was a little hurt that Derek didn't even know that he had quit lacrosse last year. Whatever, the man had been missing in action for about four months straight and he'd only been seen three or four times in all of the entire year since the alpha was unmasked and had fled so he wouldn't be killed.

Well, regardless since then he and Scott had grown apart so the part about not telling Scott wasn't much of a problem. These days he wouldn't hear much unless it started with Allison and probably ended with naked. Stiles looked up at the clock to see that it wasn't even 8 in the morning yet and the teacher had just walked in. He couldn't help but allow his head to bang painfully down on the desk. He was going to die of impatience and work himself into quite a tizzy before school was finished.

"Nice to see you as well, Mr. Stilinsky." Stiles raised his head and grinned sheepishly while mentally cursing werewolves who sent messages and then came to insure they were received in person.

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><p>It should not have been surprising to him that when he finally did show up at the designated time and place that Derek was nowhere to be found. Stiles screwed up his face in disgust and released something close to a growl of frustration as he leaned against the bleaches which he had come to dub as Derek's bleachers. This was the place where he normally stood creepily staring at Scott during their games or when they (Scott) was doing something that he had explicitly told them not to do. Stiles sighed and flicked a glance down at the cell phone in his hand.<p>

The man was thirty minutes late and Stiles was officially out of patience he wasn't a very patient person and he had only waited this long because Derek was pretty much known for being able to kill people with just a little bit more than a look at Stiles had not a fear exactly, we'll call it begrudging respect. Yes that was it, his respect for the senior beta had led to him waiting this long. Now however it was time for him to go home and do whatever it was he normally did on a Monday night. Since Scott and he had grown apart the answer to that was pretty much homework and sleeping.

Rolling his eyes as he watched said "best friend" practicing on the field wave to him he raised his own hand in greeting before turning and walking away. Stiles had better things to do than watch happy people…


	3. Chapter 2

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Because so many of you all LOVED the dream sequence (and yes, it was Derek's dream) I will be posting a one shot ending to that dream. It will be rather M so look out for it by the end of today or tomorrow for the latest.

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><p>It was midnight. No, not midnight, a little before one am. Stiles had always had an uncanny ability that while wasn't the heightened senses of a werewolf it was certainly amusing to him. No matter where he was or what situation he was in he was never more than five minutes off from the exact time. Some people had a great sense of direction he had a great sense of time itself.<p>

Knowing the time almost immediately he groaned to himself as his eyes caught the red lights shining at him and teasing him with their letters. 12:48. He took no pride in being right because the confusion that hit him was much more interesting to him. Normally his ADHD medicine mixed with his allergy pills knocked him out cold after 10 and he would sleep like the dead until morning.

So what the hell had woken him up, looking around Stiles wasn't surprised that nothing in his room appeared to give him an answer and so regretfully he swung his feet off his bed and prodded over to his door. Switching on the light there he looked around and found nothing amiss besides from the fact that it was now ridiculously bright. Shielding his eyes from the light he switched it off and quickly returned to bed. He had almost sat down until he figured out exactly what had woken him up. A soft tapping sound could be heard vibrating through his room.

Pausing mid step he looked towards the sound. It was undoubtedly coming from his window and Stiles had watched more than enough movies to know that sound was the sound of pebbles hitting his window. Sighing and figuring Scott wanted something he opened his window and stuck his head out without thinking and received an eye full of gravel. Cursing softly he wasn't surprised to hear an amused intake of breath and what sounded like laughter. The sound was so soft that it died before it even reached his ears and he had to lean forward to be sure it had even disturbed the air at all.

Wiping his eyes clean from sleep and now dirt Stiles gasped when suddenly a hand was holding his wrist and stopping the movement. Instinctively he opened his eyes to catch the gaze of his capturer. There gazes locked for a second and the man leaned forward towards him. Terribly close. An apology in his gaze, an apologize tinged with mirth and something else. An emotion Stiles had never seen on someone's face at least, not directed towards him. He wasn't particularly ready to give a name to that feeling he saw written there.

The man leaned forward, impossibly close to him and blew gently into his eyes. Clearing away the last remnants of probably the most undignified thing he had ever done. Who threw gravel? The point was to throw a single, small rock. Not a fistful of dirt and dust. Stiles figured werewolf strength must have propelled it much further and quicker than usual because it still hurt like shit.

In fact it felt like he was bleeding as his face was ridiculously hot now. Resisting the urge to wipe at his eyes again he allowed the breeze to gently wipe away what were the last remnants of dirt and he pretended not to notice that the man was still holding his hand. A firm, solid grip that prevented movement but without any painful pressure.

Instead of acting impulsively as he wanted to (ie: pulling away his hand and freaking out) he instead turned his head curiously towards the man and asked the question that had been on his mind since he had woken up, "What the f-!"

Again he could swear a slight chuckle filled the air but the man's lips had yet to part to form the human sound. The man was silent still and for some reason after the emergency text and then being left alone at the school and through the rest of the day, silence made Stiles very, very mad. He wasn't surprised that he snapped, he wasn't known to be a morning person. Drugs made him mean.

"Where were you today? You stood me up! You might do that the floozies you date but you scared the crap out of me and then you didn't even have the decency to show up and the-!" Stiles cut off for two reasons. One was because he wasn't quite sure why he was THIS upset and he hadn't much left to rant about but the second reason was because the man was glaring at him again and while he was always glaring Stiles knew this glare as glare number 36. This one was the "I'll rip out your throat with my teeth glare."

Falling silent he gave the man his most placating look and tried to redirect this conversation. "W-what," his voice most certainly did NOT break, "do you want?" he asked tugging gently on his hand so that the man would finally release him. To his surprise without saying anything the man released him and his gaze softened from glare 36 to glare 11. This one was his apologetic glare. Surprisingly the man who had undoubtedly jumped up here earlier did the same now. He turned from Stiles and whispered one word before he sprang off of his roof unto the tree next to it and then he was gone. Stiles stood there shocked, his head leaning out the window as the word rang through him. "Sorry." Derek Hale had just apologized!

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><p>Derek Hale was NOT a happy camper. He knew that if Stiles was around he would make a snide comment about the fact that he was NEVER a happy camper but that wasn't true and the fact that Stiles wasn't around was in fact the reason that Derek was so unhappy.<p>

Derek was standing in the backyard of Stiles' house and wasn't surprised that there STILL wasn't any movement inside. Of course not, the boy had been gone for two whole days now and he wouldn't be back until sometime next week. Derek clenched his jaw tightly feeling his canines tugging painfully to extend but he forced them back with barely a thought.

According to Scott, Stiles and his father had disappeared into some forest up north there they went fishing once a year or something along those lines. Derek knew better than that though. After all, who went *fishing* with Stiles of all people. Derek smirked at the thought of the fish putting up with Stiles' talking.

Snorting softly he turned and walked off their property as silently as he had entered it. No, he knew better. Stiles was not on some happy go lucky family vacation. The boy was avoiding him, no more than that he was running from him. Derek cursed himself for not making his move quickly enough or perhaps he had begun to move too quickly and that was why the boy had turned tail and run?

He honestly hadn't meant to leave the boy waiting for him. He didn't have a valid reason and if asked he most certainly would NOT tell Stiles that he had spent so long deciding what to wear and how to look and what to say that he had ended up walking onto the field just as the boy was leaving. Running after him was most certainly not an option. After all, he certainly could not give any impression that he liked him. Not until he was sure that Stiles could handle the wolf within him. Being mated to a werewolf was a difficult thing…

That night he had found himself wandering aimlessly until suddenly he was outside the boy's window and before he knew it he was looking around for something to throw. There were only these huge rocks and unfortunately that meant he had to crush them before he threw them. He could just jump up there and knock on the window but somehow he didn't want to ruin his one chance at being romantic. It perhaps wasn't the brightest move but Derek didn't give any thought to it beyond the fact that it would be romantic. A nice gesture, that's all it had been. A way to feel the boy out and be sure of what he was thinking before things got too far out of hand. That had been what there talk was supposed to be about, instead Derek kept trying to find logical reasons for being around Stiles and they kept blowing up in his face.

One minute he was throwing rocks the next minute he had practically bombarded the boy in his face with them. Springing into action he had found himself at the boy's side before even he was sure what he was doing.

And it was so romantic. And perfect. And sweet and. Ugh. Derek was becoming such a girl. Refusing to let any of those emotions cross his face he had done his best to help the boy. That's when things had gotten worse. Of course he figured the boy would want answers and be upset that he was outside his house at this hour. Sure, Derek may be anti-social but he wasn't COMPLETELY inept to the ways of other people. He was just slightly clueless, not completely.

The boy had called him a floozy-dater, he was pretty sure that that wasn't semantically correct but Derek was a man of action not of semantics. He hadn't liked the implications that he himself was a whore, or that Stiles wouldn't date him. That had really hurt. He'd done his best to quickly make amends without saying anything too stupid or risqué and he'd fled the scene. Like a coward.

Now of course, Stiles appeared to be doing the same thing. Derek couldn't really blame him but he was certainly VERY upset. Groaning in frustration Derek Hale returned home and flopped onto his bed in frustration.

Nothing, and he meant nothing, hurt more than knowing he was meant to be with someone, soul-mate-bound even, to someone who didn't want to be with them in return.


	4. Chapter 3

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Attention peeps my profile has another story now, another D&S story, this one is an off-shoot/reality/one-shot version of the dream sequence in chapter 1/the prologue. Please give it some loving and some reviewing, although it is rated M...

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><p>Scott felt the glare across the room and he just KNEW that if looks could kill that he would be dead in five seconds werewolf healing or not. Since they couldn't and he thusly didn't spontaneously combust he turned to the source of the glare. Considering that he was currently in Stiles' room there was only one person who could be glaring at him. His best friend. Well, Scott would admit he hadn't been exactly what you would call a best friend but that was beside the point.<p>

No one knew Stiles as well as he did.

"What's the problem Stiles, you can't expect me to understand what's going on. What's happening here?"

Scott should have known better. He DID know better in fact so this error in judgment was even worse because he had known Stiles all his life. Most people after meeting Stiles for five minutes knew one thing was more important than all others. Never ask Stiles a direct question. NEVER. Especially when he's mad. Not unless you have a LOT of time.

"What's wrong? What's happening! Oh," he paused to chuckle madly here, "where to begin? Well for starters your little dog friend –"

"Derek?" Scott interrupted.

"Yes, Derek." The way Stiles said those words… "he's gone mad. He's trying to kill me."

Well, that wasn't particularly new Scott thought, but he said nothing. Waiting for Stiles to tire himself out.

"And not in the usual way," oh? "no, he's gone all creative now. Apparently he seems to think that he can send me to an early grave by giving me a heart attack. He keeps appearing all over asking me the oddest things. He texted me, freaking texted me!"

Scott wondered why texting was such a bad thing…

"How did he even get my number!"

Oh…that would be Scott. He would tell Stiles that later when he calmed down a bit. Maybe…in a few months.

"Yeah, so he texted me and asked me to meet him. He stood me up, then he came outside my window during the night and threw freaking STONES at my window." Scott quirked an eyebrow at this, but he again wisely remained silent. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Next thing you know he's blowing shit out of my eyes, holding my hand. Our neighbours said a strange man was prowling around in our backyard muttering about ripping out throats while I was out of town! And then this morning," Stiles was flinging his hands around in an animated fashion and he took one last deep breath and Scott would admit he did in fact lean in a little closer to hear this one.

"This morning I found a dead pigeon on my step. All bloody and garish and just staring at me."

Scott blinked. Then blinked again. He had to play this very carefully. He looked at Stiles for a moment and all it took was one look at his face all bright red from anger and confusion for him to burst out laughing. He couldn't contain it. He couldn't even stop it once it started. All he could do was laugh until his sides hurt and he couldn't laugh anymore. By then Stiles had stood up and was poking him with a ruler angrily and that only made him laugh more. He had collapsed on Stiles' bed and was practically crying by the time he composed himself.

"H-he b-b-brought you a p-pi" He couldn't continue. He couldn't finish.

"Yes, a pigeon," Stiles finished. Clearly not as pleased as Scott was with the current situation.

Scott debated with himself once he was in a completely sober state.

"Dude…I hate to be the one to tell you this, and for that reason I'm gonna leave immediately after telling you. Okay?"

Stiles nodded slowly staring at his best friend curiously as he edged closer and closer to the window already. Sliding it open Scott perched there with his phone in his hand as if Allison was more important than his best friend. Whatever, Scott had insight into the werewolf mind and that meant that at the very least he might be able to point Stiles in the right direction. Fingers crossed.

Scott finished up what looked like a text and he looked like he was pleased that he had made Stiles wait this long patiently.

"Dude…he likes you."

"No, he wants to kill me not be my fri-"

"No, he _likes_ likes you."

"What!" Oh…wait…"WHAT!" but Scott was already gone. Leaving nothing but the faint echo of his words behind. Stiles wondered if that was some kind of werewolf trick? To say something and then disappear.

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><p>Derek stared at the words on his screen and knew there was NO way this was happening. No freaking way was he reading this correctly. He had begun to think his phone service had been disconnected after numerous unanswered calls and texts to Stiles were made. Now, he could see a shiny new message not from Stiles but from the prodigal wolf himself. The message a conundrum rapped in an enigma had five simple words on it.<p>

"Allison wants to talk. Now."

Ignoring every fibre of his being that warned him against talking to an ARGENT of all people. He found himself in Scott's room not fifteen minutes later staring at a very excited looking Allison and an amused Scott. This did not bode well for the senior beta. Not at all. SURE Allison had in fact been told all about her family history AND Scott. It was the reason they were back together again. And sure, she said she was okay were wolves but Derek knew that was mainly because of Scott. She had her own agenda and he didn't like the smell of it.

Sighing as he was beckoned into the room he couldn't help cringing as Allison put a hand around him. He felt bad about glaring at her, but he glared all the same and she quickly removed her hand. Good. No one could touch him like that except for…Damnit, he was thinking about Sitles again. How sad was he? The girl had him sitting on the bed next to her and for the life of him things were happening so quickly that he couldn't keep up with things. One minute he was standing, then he was siting and then Allison opened her mouth and the world dropped down upon him.

"So how long have you been in love with Stiles?"

Derek opened his mouth and closed it. Once, twice, three times. He swore he heard Scott snickering but when he looked over at him the boy was as straight faced as ever. Whatever.

"Those who are born wolves are born with a counterpart. A…soulmate."

A gasp here, from Allison, little fangirl that she was. "He's your soul mate? How romantic." He resisted the urge to gag when she said it. She made it seem so…girly. To him a soul mate was much more than someone that you were meant to be with forever. To wolves the soul mate was the only person capable of keeping the wolf in check, they were the people who could quell the murderous rage with just a look. Who's kiss could cure wolfs bane and who's _touch_ could stop the effects of the full moon. A soul mate was the one thing in the world that a werewolf longed for, sought after and needed. A werewolf that didn't receive his soul mate by a certain age would soon be consumed by the madness the wolf brought out and become all beast. If Derek was half human and half wolf then Stiles held the other half of his humanity. Without him, he would suffer endlessly…but the humanity that Stiles held was a huge risk to Derek if the legends were true…

Despite knowing all this, his only response was a small 'hmm'-ing noise in agreement. She was lucky she got that much. Darned Argent. Suddenly he felt an odd slapping sound on the back of his head. The girl had just tapped him! On the head! It hadn't hurt but the NERVE.

"Okay, I get that you don't want to talk about it to me. But you've got no other choice. You SUCK at courting. Have you ever even been in a relationship?" Derek assumed she meant one that didn't involve the random insertion of objects into various wholes strictly because the moon was at a certain phase in the sky. The answer to that then was a resounding no.

"Didn't think so. You keep failing like this and you're gonna scare him away before you even have a chance with him. Is that what you want?" He opened his mouth but she continued on a tangent much like Stiles but in a way that was more direct and less adorable, er…ranty. "I didn't think so, I mean missing dates, wounding him, threatening him and then bringing him dead things. My god, they don't make boys like they used to."

Derek threw Scott a look that was half "save me" and half "I'm gonna kill you." Unfazed or perhaps more scared of his girlfriend than his mentor the boy just shrugged, "do what she says. It's easier. Plus you're clueless. It's like me when I turned."

"You're still clueless." Derek & Allison said at the same time. Derek smirked at that. Argent or not he could certainly come to have some amount of begrudging respect for this girl.

"Okay…so here's what you do…"


	5. Chapter 4

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors. Possibly OOC? Drugabuse (if you wanna squint that way)

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Sorry if it's Short! I've seperated them into chapters based on general drama and where it was best to cut off, so yeah, I guess this one just felt a lot better cut off here. I haven't written anything on this story for TWO days. My god. I have two chapters left on the system before you guys catch up to where I am. I guess this means for SURE that this story won't be finished by the end of the fest. I hope no one minds (especially the organizers!) that I'll continue this story after that. I'm worried cause I'm ocd like that...Also tell me what you guys think about my Allision, it may affect later chapters!

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><p>Stiles' ears were ringing and he had the strangest feeling that not only was he being talked about but he was not going to like the result of whatever was going on elsewhere.<p>

As it was though, even though he began to sneeze almost immediately after his ears stopped ringing he ignored it because over the next few weeks his fears proved unfounded. Nothing happened, nothing ominous. Nothing. He had at least thought that Derek would come back for something. He'd stopped receiving odd phone calls, and strange text messages. He didn't know what was going on, even though Scott had given him absurd ideas. But he was glad at least that Derek had stopped pestering him. He'd spent the last few weeks trying to dissect the enigma that was Derek Hale.

Sure, Scott thought he knew what was going on, and maybe it did make sense but this was DEREK HALE they were talking about. How could Derek possibly like him, of all people. He liked Stiles no-last-name? Pft, that was absurd. Out of everything that had happened at the very least he knew that this whole entire situation was absurd.

Sighing to himself as he lay on his bed, he was so freaking bored. School had finished last week and there was just something about being an obsessive compulsive person with ADHD that led to some serious problems in maintaining a normal functioning thought pattern. This led to hours upon hours of staring up at his roof and memorizing the patterns there in. He knew the ones that looked like strange, alien creatures. He knew the one that reminded him of his mom, hell he even knew the one that reminded him of werewolf Scott. God, wasn't that an ugly looking picture. He shook his head slightly to dislodge those thoughts as he stared at the pictures forming through his vivid imagination.

Nothing held interest for him right now. He recognized depression when he felt it. After all, he had had more than simple panic attacks when his mother died. No, no one knew but his father knew but Stiles had been downright suicidal for a good few years after his mother passed away. He wasn't a normal teenager by any standards. Still, that didn't mean that he was as amazing as say Scott or _Derek _but ultimately he knew that somewhere deep, deep down he too wasn't normal. He wasn't your average genius. Or perhaps all geniuses were this messed up? Who knew. He didn't know anyone as smart as him, except perhaps Lydia.

The thought of his crush made him blush almost immediately and he wasn't surprised that he felt the heat rising through his entire body as he flushed at just the thought of the pretty, bitchy girl.

Sighing he sat up and glared at nothing in particular as the face he had of Lydia twisted and shifted into one of someone even more familiar to him than she was now. It was the face of his dreams, equally his nightmares. With a sigh, he got up and started preparing himself for bed. There was no need for him to sit there if all he was going to do was thinking about confusing things like crushes and bitchy girls he might as well spend his time sleeping trying to get some sleep. After he inevitably popped some pills to help him sleep of course.

It was only like 4pm but he needed some amount of activity. Surprisingly enough just as he had finished pop both a sleeping pill and his aderall he heard a horn outside his house. Jumping in surprise as his phone started to ring at the same time; he walked downstairs to answer it, and tucked his phone into his pocket. It was just a text message.

Surprisingly enough, his father was there and all he heard was, "have fun" from the living room as he went to open the door. What the…

Opening the door he was shocked to find a black camero outside his door, with Derek leaning against it looking way to calm and collected. Stiles blinked. And blinked again. Without even thinking about it for another second, he slammed the door shut and turned promptly on his heel.

Before he even took another step he heard a loud, frustrated knocking on the door and Stiles fought the urge to sigh knowing that the man behind the door would hear him. Glaring for all he was worth he threw the door open again and deadpanned, "what?"

Derek had the decency to at least show some emotion instead of his usual cool exterior. His response was pure confusion and after a moment of nothing he said, "Scott didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He demanded, figuring it should be quite clear that he had no idea what was going on.

"Come on," Derek said inclining his head for Stiles to follow him. Despite his aversion to all things Derek he still considered Scott his best friend and he wouldn't just leave him especially if Derek had come to talk to him about it. So Stiles did the only thing he could do. He followed Derek to his car and when the man entered the driver's seat without saying a word Stiles walked around to the other side and entered the car. More nervous by himself.

Maybe it was the tension, maybe it was the fact that his phone's message was from Scott and all it said was "Derek's picking you up, it's important." Or maybe it was the fact that he'd just self-medicated and he shouldn't be out of bed for another few hours but either way he didn't think much about it. He was already feeling the movement of the car drift him off into happy land as he felt more than heard Derek speaking to him.

He murmured a half-hearted reply about pills and lacrosse before he drifted off completely into a state of self-medicated bliss. Missing the way Derek looked at him in full on concern and said, "How did Scott not tell you I was taking you away for the week!"

Perhaps it was nerves over seeing Stiles and taking him away and for Stiles it was fear and medication but neither of them noticed the blue glowing swirl on the top of Derek's car that shone only when the sun hit it just right.


	6. Chapter 5

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Enjoy what may be my final post for D&S fest, as I'm having computer/net issues. But I WILL finish this story, do not worry.

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><p>Derek had been driving for two hours when it happened. One second he was driving along and then it felt as if something was pulling him back to the city. He'd originally planned on taking Stiles somewhere close to town but now that he figured the boy would split the moment he woke up he had decided further was better. Now though it was like the car itself was fighting him not to leave. Something was amiss. Foolishly pushing through the barrier, he felt an intense pain ripping him back in that direction. Stiles must have felt it to because the boy woke out of his slumber with a strangled scream and perspiration ghosting over his pale complexion.<p>

The car changed to the other lane all on its own accord and Derek jerked it back into place before snarling in the road's general direction. What was going o-boom.

Suddenly he felt the car slowing down by itself and before he could stop it both he and Stiles jerked forward as the car stopped suddenly. The doors locked themselves. Derek growled, knowing he would have to rip the door off and he didn't like the idea. Suddenly he heard a stifled, choked cry and he looked over to see Stiles. His head bleeding as he attempted frantically to get out of the car. Wondering what the hurry was he immediately felt it before he saw it. A heat, a palpable, tangible heat. They were on fire.

"Stiles," he whispered harshly and the man froze as if remembering where he was. Derek yanked the man out of his seat and held him close. If they couldn't get out he would at least protect Stiles from the fire. Ignoring the old memories that wanted to draw pain out of him he watched the fire circling around and around them. What was he going to do…

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><p>Stiles didn't want to admit it to himself but he felt so much better being allowed to burrow into Derek's chest and hide out. He was smart, he knew he would die from smoke inhalation but somehow the idea of Derek holding him for safety made him feel so much better. Watching the fire with wide eyes he was amazed that as soon as the fire touched them Derek's eyes turned a harsh blue color. It wasn't the deep blue it was when he shifted. It was different. Stiles had figured this fire wasn't normal but when the fire itself turned a color to match Derek's eyes he knew that his assumption was right.<p>

Raging around them the fire looked like more like ice than fire as it burned, moved through the car towards them. Stiles didn't notice that it had yet to damage the interior of the car or anything else. It was when the fire finally engulfed them that Stiles realized that he himself could only feel the heat of the flames. They weren't burning him, they were beginning to fade to a white-blue snowy color and Derek was screaming for all he was worth. Trying to figure out why it was affecting Derek and not him he turned to stare up the man and instinctively he wrapped his arms around him. Turning from the protected to the protector. Unsurprisingly given the situation the man held on to him for dear life and Stiles could feel the pain racking his body as he trembled. He wanted so badly to get out of here, to do something but wait for Derek to die!

One minute the fire was there and Derek was screaming and the next moment all that filled the air was the sound of Derek's ragged breathing. Opening eyes he hadn't known he'd actually closed he was shocked to find that the fire was all gone. The doors weren't in their auto-locked position and it was if nothing had ever happened. He would have thought it was all a dream if he wasn't IN Derek's lap holding the man as he didn't _cry_ but he came quite close to it.

"Derek? Derek." No response. So Stiles remained quiet, allowed Derek to compose himself. He wouldn't be the first to let go. He knew that according to Scott, Derek had feelings for him but right now awkward, unrequited interest was set aside. He had never seen the man this shaken up, and he'd seen him wolf out. Looking into his eyes he found them shocked, scared and panicking but otherwise non-blue. Their usual shade of green. At least they were safe.

"Where are we going?" He asked, finally…unable to wait in the silence any longer than this especially when his own heart was pounding in his chest.

"Somewhere safe…I was afraid of this." Shifting off him as Derek pushed gently on his chest Stiles returned to his seat and watched as Derek started the car (which had shut itself off) and they drove off in silence. Stiles wanted so badly to ask so many questions but for once he ignored that feeling. He was smart enough to know that things were about to go incredibly bad for them.

About twenty five minutes later they pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a motel. In silence Derek walked across to a dinner and returned with two bags of food before he rented them. He jerked his head for Stiles to come and only then did the boy lift trembling legs out of the car to follow him. God, he was such a baby. He'd only seen the fire and he was more shaken up than Derek.

Not caring or even noticing that the room had two beds (at least, not noticing what it implied) he sat on one as soon as they entered the room and he just waited. Stared. Derek was radiating an emotion Stiles had never seen on him before, not this anyway. The man was confused, confused and scared. Stiles looked at the bag the man had thrown. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew it was some form of chicken or another. Figures that Derek didn't know he was a vegetarian. Opening the bag to see if there was at least something edible he was pleased to find a veggie burger (he could tell by the 'V' written on it) and some fries. Awesome.

Not even knowing how Derek knew he sat eating slowly and he waited. The man eventually came and sat next to him and a comfortable silence fell between them. He stole fries from Stiles' bag (and sometimes his hand even) and he was SO close to Stiles that he wanted to shift so badly. Sensing that the man needed comfort though he waited and finally he started speaking.

"Only those who are born werewolves ever amass enough power and experience to become alphas…" Derek started and Stiles knew that this was going to be the longest thing the beta had ever said to him.

"Some wolves who were bitten may eventually become alphas but it is incredibly rare…In order to become an alpha there are certain…challenges that one must overcome. Firstly one must find themselves their…soul mate." There was an awkward pause here as Stiles ignored that and waited.

The moments flew by as they ate in silence until finally the man stood up, paused and then sat back down. This time he looked so lost, so confused, so much not like himself that Stiles just wanted to reach out and hug him again.

"What else happens?" He asked, unable to bear it anymore…"was it the fire? Why did it only burn you?"

"It only burnt a certain part of me. Only supernatural creatures are affected by that fire…it burnt the wolf within me. Stiles…" Oh god, his name had never sounded so pained on anyone's lips…"you are no longer safe with me Stiles. I…I'm human Stiles…"


	7. Chapter 6

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know I promised a few people this update yesterday (or ealier) but I got distracted and had to go out. In fact, I went out all day yesterday, came home in the evening, went out again. Now I just got home and I'm posting this as I get dressed to go out again. Sigh! I will be finished this story while also updating Lycanthropy and Immortality (I love the name scheme, don't you?) Check out my profile for a list of other stories I'm planning, all teen wolf, Diles, of course.

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><p>When Derek woke up he wasn't surprised to find that he was all alone in Stiles' bed. He hadn't expected the man to stay… not after last night. Without making a sound he slowly sat up and felt his entire body explode into pain. His entire neck and back felt like someone had hit him with a chair. He must have slept incredibly awkwardly if he felt this pain now.<p>

Struggling out of his bed he was surprised to hear a voice from the bed next to him. His bed. "Morning…" The voice sounded a little tentative but much more confident than Derek would have expected. Turning the voice he saw Stiles sitting on the other bed in the room. The man had stayed, just not in the same bed as him. Derek didn't know quite what to feel about that. Struggling into a sitting position and taking the cup of store bought coffee from the man he tried to remember exactly what had happened last night.

The last thing he remembered, was telling Stiles that he was human. The boy had said nothing just waited as emotions that Derek had never fully experienced assaulted him and Derek recalled he had simply leaned back at one moment and fallen into a blissful sleep. That explained why he was in so much pain, he must have fallen asleep in a very awkward position.

Stiles may have been in a self-medicated stupor last night but Derek knew that now after the incident the man would have nothing but questions. At least he seemed to be allowing him time to drink his coffee. That one little gesture was enough to send a pleasant jolt down Derek's body this early in the morning, or perhaps that was just the caffeine. He was surprised however, when the boy finally did speak that it was about something else entirely.

"Why did you bring me out here, Derek?" He sounded so much calmer now that he knew Derek couldn't rip his throat out with his teeth, but he was still hesitant as if he didn't fully believe Derek was…well…harmless now.

Sighing to himself he knew that no matter how early in the morning it was or how shitty he felt, Stiles did in fact deserve an explanation.

"I…like you Stiles." A sharp intake of breath followed this, but Derek ignored it, knowing if he stopped now he wouldn't be able to finish. "Before you, I've never felt this way about anyone. It took me months to figure out w-…what was going on with me."

Silence for a moment…

"I don't expect you to jump up and declare your lo…ve for me, because this isn't a declaration either. I am so confused…I…" Derek bit his lip and then ground his teeth in frustration. He hated being this pathetic, this weak, this _human_. "I tried to get your attention. Some way or another. Allision," the bitch, "suggested that I spend some time with you away from distractions of life in that town…"

Derek figured the boy would know that he meant people like Scott and all the other ways Stiles had been hiding from him lately.

"So that's why you've been…behaving like that, with me?" Derek didn't like the tone of voice the boy was using but he nodded all the same. Trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Wait…what about the bird?" Oh. Shit. Right. That one was going to be even harder to explain. But Derek deciding that he had no pride left to lose went ahead and told him. He explained that he was made up of two parts. Human and wolf. When the human couldn't achieve something it was instinct for the wolf to do so. Locking the conscious part of Derek away for a moment the wolf side of him had seen Stiles as a mate to woo. So of course, an offering like that made sense. From…an animal's perspective at least.

When Derek was finally finished he was blushing for all he was worth and feeling more and more like hiding himself in his bed once more. To his surprise a light airy chuckle filled the air. Not a mean or cruel or even a sarcastic laugh. Just one that was genuinely happy. Turning to look at him he had another ominous feeling washed over him as the man stopped laughing and smirked at him.

"So I guess this means you find me attractive."

Derek groaned and collapsed back into the bed, hiding his head under the covers. "Don't remind me!"

"Hey look who finally has a sense of humo- wait!" Derek felt the pillow hit his back and he couldn't help the deep chuckle that filled him. Maybe things weren't going so badly after all.

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><p>Twenty five minutes later Derek was regretting even THINKING along those lines as for the fifth time Stiles threw a pillow at him and laughed uncontrollably. Derek snarled as he caught the pillow, threw it back and Stiles caught it easily. Ever since he'd gotten out of bed he'd been doing the most absurd things. He'd tripped over the sheets coming out, he'd burnt himself in the shower, he'd accidentally bruised his shoulder on the doorway and otherwise had just been making an ass of himself.<p>

Finally stiles sobered up after Derek levelled a glare of monumental proportions at him.

"What's going on Derek? Is this like your asthma coming back?"

"What?" He responded simply.

"Oh, Scott's asthma disappeared when he became a wolf. So are you becoming like…clumsy?"

Derek paused and thought about it for a moment. He knew there was a reason he liked this boy besides from physical attraction and his free spirit. He was sharp. "Yes and no. I was never human. I am not accustomed to the limitations of human senses…" Sight was becoming a real bitch to adapt to…He felt himself squinting all the time. It was going to ruin his face…leave a permanent mark it was. Not that he himself was very vain. At least, not too much, right?

"Oh…well…haha…um" Stiles was laughing his butt off over there, rolling his eyes Derek glared pointedly. It wasn't fair to make fun of him for something that wasn't his fault, hell it was probably the boys fault.

"So," Stiles said, suddenly all sombre business, "what does this mean? How long are you-?"

Derek sighed, he had hoped he wouldn't have to explain any more than what he had already told him. He didn't want the boy to blame himself or anyone else. He would be very vague with this.

"I.." long silent pause before he composed himself. "It is a temporary situation. A week or two at most. I merely have to spend some time acclimating to my human side. Once a few…requirements are made, I'll regain my abilities."

Stiles was silently mulling things over in his head. Who knew the boy could be quiet for this long, in fact if anyone had ever told him Stiles could be this quiet he would have laughed in their faces!

Amazingly enough the silence continued until finally the boy looked at him and said, "okay…let's go."

Go where?

"Go. Let's go, I don't care where. But this is not time well spent together, so let's go."

Derek's eyes widened in surprise. Although to him widening in surprise was the barest movement around his eyes and his lips. Only the very observant would have noticed.

"You should go back to town, it's not safe here…"

"Why not?"

"It's probably…the alpha who set that trap for me. He could have written the Sigel necessary to take my wolf abilities away a long time ago or…much more recently."

Stiles frowned at that, "I thought this was a good thing? Giving you alpha abilities and all?"

Derek shook his head, "not if he kills me first." He was neglecting to mention again that it was only the presence of Stiles in his life that had activated the magic symbol. The ritual was more than just to create an alpha it was also to ensure the wolf had enough control over himself when he mated as an alpha...He looked away from the boy, he just KNEW if he looked directly at him the boy would know something was amiss.

"Well, that settles it then…let's back up and keep on the move." With that Stiles got up and began looking through drawers and picking up clothing as if he had somehow had a lot to pack. They hadn't brought anything out of the car so Derek knew he was only busying himself so he had something to do.

"Stiles…"

"No. You're a human Derek. And, no offense, but you've never BEEN a human. You've never had to hide yourself or needed light at night or anything else. You need my help and I'm not going to leave you." Oh…so that's what this was. Derek felt his heart drop. He didn't actually want to stay with Derek, he just felt the need to protect him out of pity.

"I am still a full grown man, Stiles…" he looked down on him coldly, even though he himself had taken refuge sitting on the crummy motel bed he could still glower with the best of them. "I don't need your assistance, I am not a child."

To his surprise laughter filled the air…and he deliberately refused to look up and see what the boy was laughing at.

"Come on sour wolf," the boy said crossing the room and tilting his chin up with a finger. Derek felt his heart skip a beat as their eyes met, and that wasn't even getting into what his light touch was doing to him. "You're certainly behaving like a child. Come on. You need to hide out, I could use a vacation and you planned to take me around anyway…" The boy finished quietly, shyly…

Derek was frozen. His body had completely given out on him. Derek could not handle the vast amount of emotions running through him. On one hand he wanted so badly to lean into that small touch and just…purr…Purr!

On the other hand he wanted to stare into the brown eyes that were oh so close and just drown in them. He wanted to kiss the boy softly all caring and compassionate. He wanted to kiss him hard all love and passion... He wanted…-

The spell was broken as suddenly the boy moved back and whispered, "besides…in your current condition I don't think you could stop me even if you wanted to." How did he go from attracting him to infuriating him in 2.5 seconds? Derek threw the boy his fiercest 'I will kill you glare' but the boy just laughed and Derek had to screw his face up in confusion at such a reaction.

"I wasn't talking about your human condition," he smirked and walked towards the door. "besides, we should stick together…I…thinkImaylikeyoutoo." And with that the boy slammed the door behind him and was gone.

Derek stared at the door for a full five seconds before he was up and running after the boy. Desperately wanting to have a chance to react to his statement in a very inappropriate manner. When he finally hit the corridor it was empty and he was glad he had a few minutes to compose himself before he went back into the room, collected what he needed and walked downstairs to check them out.

Where exactly did you carry a boy who you wanted to love you when you had never thought yourself capable of love? He would need to consult Allison's List…damnit. Finally getting everything together he left the motel room again, trying his best not to look like he desperately wanted to slam the boy up against the car and kiss him for all he was worth…


	8. Chapter 7

Characters: Derek/Stiles (Slash!)

Warnings: Slash. Possible Continuity errors. Cliffhanger that isn't nice and neat either.

Disclaimer: Teen wolf isn't mine.

Sorry, sorry, sorry! OMG, I wanted this chapter up DAYS ago. I honestly haven't gotten a lot done the last few days. I wrote 400 words yesterday. Sigh. If it helps school is "supposed" to start back soon, and my country is under a state of emergency (look it up, I live in Trinidad.) While nothing has physically happened I am kind of scatter brained atm. I will be ending this story soon, next 3/4 chapters probably. I will end it but I already have it's sequel waiting to be written, so don't worry.

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><p>Stiles waited patiently at the car, wondering what the hell he was doing! He had just toyed with, threatened and teased Derek freaking Hale! It was almost like he was looking for his death. As he leaned on the dude's car (looking for death part 2) he couldn't help but ponder why he had done it. Somewhere deep down he guessed that he really had no problem with Derek liking him. After all, he wasn't a complete sociopath (although he behaved like he was close sometimes) so the safest person around Derek would probably be Stiles. If he reciprocated…even if not he had a feeling that Derek wouldn't hurt him. Just like Scott wouldn't hurt Allison, Derek wouldn't hurt him. That was a comforting thought.<p>

As the man approached the car, Stiles immediately felt his heart start to beat faster and his breath caught in his throat. The man looked SO much like a predator that he couldn't help the fight or flight instinct that kicked in. He couldn't believe it, but it appeared he really did like Derek Hale back. He'd never been gay but the thought of Derek all over him, kissing and touching and biting…oh god…

This was going to be a long trip…and he had no clothes! He voiced this complaint immediately and Derek gave him a funny look.

"Scott stole your stuff before we left. Half your wardrobe is in my car. I'm surprised you didn't notice at home." What? He was going to KILL Scott. In fact, as he heard Derek open the door and he bounded into the passenger side of the car he asked, "so where to?" even as he pulled out his phone and texted Scott a message about personal space and not setting up people with others.

He missed Derek's mumbling as he tried to decide on something and instead he leaned back and closed his eyes. He really hoped it was somewhere public because these small spaces made him think of killing Scott and kissing Derek…maybe at the same time…?

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><p>Stiles pouted like a little children and listened to Derek laugh at him for what was probably the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "Are we there yet," he whined apparently not caring that he'd also asked that question five times in the last ten minutes. Unsurprisingly though the man simply grunted in response and rolled his eyes. Stiles had spent the last 48 hours with this man and he knew exactly what that reaction meant. Derek was resisting the urge to tell him something that would lead to them having a tiff.<p>

In essence, they'd had more tiffs in the last two days than probably their entire relationship prior. Something about being stuck in a car with someone for the entire day and then pulling into a dingy motel at night left a person someone cranky with their companion. Especially when the two people were SO much different. Stiles was a talker, a big talker. He enjoyed loud music, shouting, exciting conversations and otherwise being ALIVE. Derek, god bless him for trying, also enjoyed loud music but preferred listening to talking and Stiles could only hold a one-sided conversation for long.

Stiles would admit though, that he had never had anyone try _so_ hard with him before. Even Scott and his father and especially Lydia were always pissed with him when he talked too much, and even though he knew he was upsetting Derek (he hadn't packed his pills after all) the man was behaving like a saint. Stiles could tell he was trying very hard not to snap at him all the time. Stiles felt kinda bad for being so annoying and this was also a first in his life. Normally he didn't care how he made other people feel because he was confident in himself and who he was but with Derek he wanted to please him. He'd always thought his feelings only ran to fear but now that he had nothing to fear from the man he found that he still had a deep seated need to please the man. Not that he couldn't tease him of course, which is exactly what he was doing now.

"You promised me a romantic weekend!"

The man turned to face him and raised an eyebrow, clearly asking when he'd done such a thing.

"Well, you inferred it pretty clearly," Stiles filled the silence quickly.

"Implied. You inferred, I implied." Derek correct and Stiles smirked at that.

"So you ADMIT it." Stiles whispered amused, and Derek shot him a look that clearly said he couldn't believe he'd fallen for that.

Shaking his head and mumbling something about juvenile people Stiles smirked and fell silent as he finally, finally caught a glimpse of their destination. Sure they could see and smell it before but now, now they were mere inches away from a parking space and feet away from…Oh god.

Derek pulled his car into a parking space and Stiles was out of the car before it had even fully stopped moving. Chuckling softly to himself Derek fixed him with an amused glare (#16) as he began to unload the car. Ignoring him and not helping at all, Derek needed to keep his physique up now that he wasn't a wolf, Stiles bounced up and down impatiently but waited for the man all the same. Knowing better than run off on his own.

"You'd think you'd never been to the beach before…" Derek said sarcastically and Stiles cocked his head to the side as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I haven't Derek, come on, look at where we live." Stiles responded eloquently, calming down for a moment to speak logically to the man who had apparently not thought this out too far ahead.

They'd decided that randomly driving around wouldn't be any fun and while they were on the road they should enjoy the time they had together. So after two days of driving aimlessly (to appease Stiles' fears that someone was after them) they'd finally decided to take turns picking locations. Stiles had begged to go to the nearest beach. It was a few hours away but that was okay, because Stiles didn't mind spending time with his loner boyf- …no that wasn't right. He didn't mind spending time with the wolf-man, they hadn't discussed anything about what was going on with them though and for that he was thankful. He needed time to figure out exactly what was going on.

All of sudden he found himself being tugged along and it appeared that Derek was ready, he followed happily noting that while the man had gripped his wrist to pull him out of his world he made no move to release his hand. While they weren't actually holding hands it was the first real step that they'd had since they'd both mutually agreed that they felt _something_. Stiles still wasn't sure what his something was but he knew that Derek's grip around his wrist was firm and secure and it sent a jolt through him at how secure he felt. It also made him feel like a little child, but he ignored that and followed willingly.

Once they were on the sand Stiles disappeared to change while Derek rolled his eyes and changed without even blinking. Well, of course, when you looked like Derek you didn't have to be afraid to change in public. Not that Stiles himself was bad looking, he just wasn't nearly as…built as Derek was. Sneaking a peek when he returned he noted that the unwolfing process had not taken away the slabs of muscle that covered his body. Unlike Scott's they were all natural it appeared. Whatever, he looked away to prevent himself from blushing as the man sent him an actual smile. Not a smirk, not a snarl, a full blown smile. It was gorgeous. Shirtless men should not be able to smile like that…

_Anyway_, ignoring the feeling that jolted through him at the sight of shirtless Derek smiling Stiles took in his chosen swimwear – a pair of black swim trunks with blue lining and blue pull strings were tied to hold them up. Of COURSE Derek owned black swim wear, heck if someone had told him they were anything other than blue highlighted he would have died. Amazingly enough, there was a palm sized cherry blossom flower on the right hand corner of his trunk. Bright pink with a yellow center. It amused him but it certainly didn't make the pants look any less awesome.

Looking down at himself he frowned, wondering if he really matched up to the wolf. He himself was wearing his absolute favourite pair of swimming trunks; they were silver and black in a criss-crossed fashion with one black and one silver string tied lazily over each other to add to the 'I don't care' look that Stiles had going on. Because he REFUSED to take off his shirt around Derek either, he was wearing a pretty large white t-shirt. He didn't know how that had happened but when he'd taken clothes out of the car to bathe in somehow this one had been chosen. Was it Derek's? He didn't recall owning anything that hung off him so pathetically.

Coming out of his own thoughts for a moment he noticed that said potential owner of the shirt was looking at him with a slightly evil twinkle in his eyes. "You're swimming in that?"

Stiles pretended to consider this for a moment, he cast a look down at himself and then flashed Derek a fake hurt look. "What's wrong with this?" He responded quizzically. Derek shook his head at him.

"You can't swim with a shirt on." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why not?" Stiles pouted, he didn't like where this discussion was going, he also didn't like the fact that Derek was edging closer to him slowly.

"Because. You'll drown. Especially in one that oversized." Stiles figured that was probably true but that didn't mean – and with that he was off. Running. Derek had taken off half a second before him and Stiles was glad he was ready for him. Laughing so hard that he could barely run he knew that Derek would undoubtedly catch him. Darting quickly to the right he jumped over a little child's sandcastle and then quickly ducked into a crowd of people walking in the opposite direction. Sure his laughter was a dead giveaway but one did not play fair while running from a werewolf.

Unsurprisingly the man was still behind him shouting something about throwing him in the water immediately and his own laughter was filling the air. Stiles nearly froze at that, Derek's laughter was probably the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Almost immediately his imagination and ADD ganged up on him and he was struck by a mental image of Derek moaning in pleasure. He could practically _hear _it and if the real thing was anything like his imagination he knew he would have to recant his statement about his laughter.

Knowing he was nearing the end of his stamina he turned quickly and faced Derek, prepared to duck to the side once the man came too close to him.

"S-stop. Come on. Don't you dare." He said, fixing Derek with his best glare as the man approached him.

"Take it off and I won't have to make you," he responded simply and Stiles immediately thought about teasing Derek about the reason he wanted to see Stiles shirtless but he left it alone.

Suddenly without warning Derek charged right and Stiles immediately bolted in the other direction, a quick jump/change of direction. However, Derek had seen this coming and the initial movement was only a fake out. Derek pivoted and tackled Stiles and they both fell to the ground in a heap of tangled legs and arms.

Derek was still super strong and despite Stiles screams of outrage, horror and amusement the man was quickly tugging the shirt over his head and throwing it off to the side. If anyone on the beach thought it strange to see two grown men wrestling on the sand as one tried to de-robe the other they didn't notice. Both of them were far too interested in the moment to even bother with how passer-by's felt.

Once Stiles' shirt was off, they both lay panting on the sand. Derek was still on top of Stiles, practically straddling him and neither of them made any attempt to move. They were breathing hard and both still laughing and trying to catch their breath. It was all in all one of the most amazing moments of Stiles' life, he wanted nothing more than to kiss the man above him. The force of the urge surprised him. Was he really gay? Since when? This moment was undeniably good... what would happen if he just leaned up and titled his head just right...?

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><p>Don't kill me! I cut it there because this chapter was far too long otherwise, because there was no moment to cut it earlier or later than this. I wanted to have this scene in two chapters so I had to cut it here, the next chapter starts RIGHT after this one though so keep that in mind when the next chapter goes up. As usual, Read, review, worry about your authro in his terrible country, etc!<p> 


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